VITAL SIGNS: BEHAVIOR; Lullaby for the Sleep-Deprived

By JOHN O'NEIL

Published: February 8, 2005

Maybe lullabies shouldn't be just for babies. A new study has found that older people sleep better and longer if they listen to soothing music at bedtime.

The research, published last week in The Journal of Advanced Nursing, built on the findings of Dr. Marion Good of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who noted that that quiet music diminished postoperative pain.

The new study was conducted by Dr. Hui-Ling Lai of the Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, in conjunction with Dr. Good.

The project involved 60 people, ages 60 to 83. Half were asked to pick from an assortment of tapes of quiet Western or Chinese music and were given a training session in relaxing while listening. On average, Dr. Good said, people need up to 30 minutes to fall asleep. So tapes of 45 minutes were used to increase the chance that the subjects would drop off before the music ended.

Over the next three weeks, the people in the music group reported a steady decrease in the length of time they needed to fall asleep and the length of time they felt sleepy the next day. They also reported sleeping longer and better. The control group reported no change in sleeping quality or patterns.

The benefits were not spread evenly, however. While almost half the participants in the music group -- those with milder problems -- improved enough to be rated as ''good sleepers,'' those with more severe difficulties experienced smaller improvements, reporting continued problems in the amount of time needed to fall asleep.